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Tuesday, June 28, 2011

This past weekend I was up in Maine fulfilling my bridesmaid role in the wedding of one of my dearest friends. The wedding was exquisite and my friend was breathtaking! Maine is a very beautiful state even though it didn't get above 58 degrees when we were there. Be that as it may, I decided to gather some beautiful Maine interiors for ya'll!

In Maine, chintz abounds. So does wicker. In fact, on our drive back to CT, we passed an actual wicker factory! Who knew they existed? Anyway, this is Tom Scheerer mixing brown wicker with a berber rug and a tulip coffee table and gorgeous chintz. I LOVE this room.

Martha has a house up in Maine--word on the street is that she isn't very well received up there...Anyway shes really channeling Arcadia National Forest on this tablescape with the faux bois and moss centerpieces.

Tom Scheerer is really capturing the spirit of Maine without falling too far into the "lets keep everything as it was in the 1950s" attitude. He keeps it fresh but not too overwhelming. As he says in the HB interview, "That's one of the things about Mainers. They're plain folk, and you don't want to go against that too much. Fleece is the uniform, not cashmere."

Ljbby Cameron definitly keeps it cozy here with Sister Parish's daughter, Apple's home. Yes, I said Apple. The unassuming furnishings are perfect for the Maine atmosphere but the fabrics are perfect for the daughter of Sister Parish.

From Country Living, I love the simplicity of this dining room and kitchen. The house looks perfectly weathered and all the furniture looks like they've had it for a few generations. The tablecloth is stunning but the plates on the wall are my favorite thing here.

I think I really love it because it's costal and nautical but not too "Hamptons" looking. The houses give off more of a cottage feel which is cozy. I grew up in New England and can completely understand Maine thing. The fact that it was 57 degrees up there this past weekend was surprising to me but luckily we were dancing too much to get that cold. The best part was that everyone says hi to everything and you walk in and out of people's houses without knocking. So adorable. I was glad to make the (9 hour) trip up there again for my friend.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

A few weeks ago I picked out a Berber rug for a client and they ended up loving it! I was so excited that they chose it and I learned a lot about these rugs and love them! I know they were hot about 3 years ago but I think they're back. Traditional Berber rugs come from Morrocco and are made from natural materials.

Maureen Footer designed this executive's office with a gorgeous light brown and ivory square pattern Berber rug. I love the super traditional style mixed with the exotic (in this setting) Berber rug.

As you will see, Jonathan Adler LOVES a Berber rug. There is one at the foot of the bed, and also a berber wedding blanket on the end, which is so beautiful.

Tom Delevan used a long and narrow rug in this living room. Moroccan rugs are typically more narrow than a typical area rug. The extra long fringe is fabulous. From Trad Home Magazine.

Ron Marvin used a Berber with a large diamond pattern with some mid century modern furniture in this Trad Home spread.

A medium diamond pattern creates a lot of movement in this room and brings together a lot of small furniture pieces. I've noticed that when people use a Berber rug, they make it a two tone color scheme but I love how designers Dransfield and Ross bring in a yellow for some color.

I cannot STAND this coffee table but I think this Berber is beautiful; the ends are an amazing detail. I wish you could see the throw pillows better because they are so much fun. Designed by the insanely gorgeous women from Domicile Interior Design.

Wooo! Some color! Can you guess who designed this? Jonathan Adler. Leave it to him to bring in some color here and a pouf!

In shopping for Berbers, I found a lot of Moroccan rugs with color in them and completely fell in love. I wish I could see some in action but check these out from Kea , Jonathan Adler and Anthropologie.

So what do you all think? Like them? Hate them? I think I become disappointed when designers simply carry out the black and white or brown and white color scheme and it's much more fun and exotic when they use color too. Alicia B.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Remember a few weeks ago when my friend Ashleigh and I went to Home Goods and I fulfilled my dreams of that week and bought a pouf? Well, I thought the fabric on it was hideous so I made a hot little slip cover for it! Don't you think it was ick? Finally putting to good use the fabrics that I've been hoarding, I sat down and sewed them together to make it beautiful and viewable by the general public.

Here is the gorgeous linen damask that I chose for the body of the pouf.

I had to measure the circumference first.

Since it's a found object, its not as easy to slip cover as something that is square. I had to create creases at strategic spots. Strategery.

The fun part was the sewing! After I pinned up the two ends, I sewed them together like a sleeping bag for the pouf. Or a straight jacket.

For the top, I chose a Vaughan embroidered linen fabric, Mino. I pinned the top on and tucked under the edges.

Then I patiently sewed on top by hand. And then...

Here is my lovely pouf!

I went with fabric pouf approach and not the somewhat ubiquitous leather pouf look. While I like that look, my precious sewing machine doesn't sew leather.

What do you think? I'm such a fabric lover that if I could, I would recover everything in my apartment. I'm loving the pouf idea too because it doesn't take up as much room as a chair and is light enough to move around the room.

Congratulations to the winner of the Shabby Apple Give-Away contest! You all lucked out because I got sick and allowed you all an extra day to enter. Anyway, the winner is Sarah at Boxwood Clippings! True that, Sarah their swimwear IS adorable. Check it out HERE. Also take a look at Sarah's blog--it's super cute. Thanks for reading my blog Sarah!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

This past weekend I threw a shower at my apartment for one of my best friends for her wedding which is in two weeks!! The next day she threw MY bridal shower at her apartment so we had a lot of showers in a two day period. I had 17 people in my tiny Manhattan apartment but learned a lot about planning for a shower. Check out how I set it up!

It all starts with an invitation (and RSVPing). I found these cute fill in shower invitations at Lee's Art Shop on the UWS.

I got plates and napkins in pinks and greens from Caspari. It was a pink and green kind of event. These are Grosgrain Paper plates.

Linen napkins from Caspari for drinks and larger ones for the bathroom!

I served a light lunch of a grilled Calamari Salad that I found in House Beautiful. Tyler Florence's recipe called for fried calamari but that's not how I roll so I grilled/sauteed them!

You can't toast the bride without a little pink champagne! I added a little raspberry in the bottom of each one.

I made (ordered) mini quiches and put out some brie and crackers for some snacks on my new beautiful green glass plate.

YUM.

The most delicious part were the petit fours that I ordered from Three Tarts Bakery in Chelsea. I could literally eat a whole box of them they are DELISH.

I was so happy to throw this shower for my friend and I had a ton of fun planning for it. I've thrown parties for my friends before but to throw a party for people that I don't know was a little different. I had to nail it.

I hope you enjoyed but i ALSO hope that you enter my give-away contest below! Enter for a chance to win a super cute dress from Shabby Apple. HIT IT NOW.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

I'm SO excited about this give-away from Shabby Apple. I've always loved their dresses and thought they looked comfortable but when I was offered this opportunity to do a giveaway, I realized how fun and stylin' (yeah I said it) they are. I checked out the site and they have GORGEOUS white summer dresses, some of the cutest little girls dresses I've seen in a while, and some comfortable but pretty maternity dresses too!

The dress you have the chance (of a lifetime) to win is called "the Spanish Steps" and being a huge Italy nerd, I think this dress is pure perfection. It had me at "Bongiorno". How gorgeous is the skirt on this dress and I love the fun floppy bow, too.

How cute is this little girl?

So, you know the rules (don't break them). Comment on here, tweet or blog about it and let me know, no anonymous entries, one entry per person and you can only be in the 48 (of 50) states of America.

Also pretty obsessed with this high-waisted skirt with a bow.

If you don't win, you can still get 10% off anything on the site with the code "Aliciab10off". As is the thing to do, I'll choose the winner from everybody's favorite number generator random.org. They are also on Facebook so you should go and LIKE them. I know I did.

So get to commenting to win the Spanish Steps dress!! Happy Friday, ya'll.